A City Council committee composed of Mayor Mike Naggar and Councilman Ron Roberts sat down last week with Old Town merchants, the operator of the weekly Old Town farmers market and city staff members to craft a series of new rules and regulations for the market aimed at quelling long-standing criticism of the operation by some Old Town business owners.

The full City Council will consider the slate of changes at Tuesday's meeting.

For years, some merchants have complained about vendors at the market undercutting their businesses by selling similar products and food items and there also have been issues with vendors selling retail items such as hats, scarves and clothes that, they felt, shouldn't be offered at a "farmers" market.

"My main concern is the retail being sold at the market," said Lorena Spencer, an Old Town business owner who tried to spur change last year by picketing the market and passing out fliers to folks walking along Old Town Front Street.

Addressing some of these long-standing concerns, the committee decided to recommend a new policy that will require vendors selling handcrafted items to get approval from the city.

The idea is that people who are selling retail items -- clothes, mass-produced pieces of jewelery, imported trinkets, etc. -- wouldn't be allowed to take up a space at the market, unless, and this is a big distinction, those vendors operate a physical, brick-and-mortar store in Old Town.

After more than two hours of discussion, the committee and the folks in the Civic Center's conference center agreed that people who run a business from a physical address will be allowed to lease space in the market on a rotating basis for at least three months.

In the event there is another business owner who wants to lease one of the spots reserved for an Old Town business they will be allowed to set up their shingle and the business that had been there the longest would have to make way.

In addition, the operator of the market, Gale Cunningham of Farmers' Market Management, agreed to reserve a certain percentage of the spaces at the weekly Saturday market for Old Town merchants.

This new rotation system was designed to help give merchants who want to promote their business or reach for some new sales.

It also closes the loophole that had allowed folks who sublet space from an Old Town merchant to grab space at the market and sell retail items.

That loophole was particularly despised by the merchants who pay full rental fees for their spaces only to see someone swoop in and gobble up sales on the most heavily trafficked day of the week.

"That is not a merchant in Old Town," said Cheryl Pollard, an Old Town travel agent who also operates a boutique, talking about the subletters.

To cover the expenses associated with the new oversight of certain vendors, the committee recommended boosting the lease amount for the market from $400 to $1,000 a month.

Before deciding to move forward with negotiating a new agreement with the existing operator, there was a discussion about possibly going out and seeking new operators who might want to come in and lease the market's longtime homebase, the public parking lot at Sixth Street.

That option was not pursued, however, in part because of a concern by Old Town business leaders and the council members who were worried about bringing in an operator who didn't have all of Cunningham's connections and familiarity with the faces in Old Town.

Cunningham, who attended the meeting but only spoke when responding to questions, has been operating the market in Old for more than 20 years.

Craig Puma, president of the Old Town Temecula Association merchants group, said Cunningham has worked with Old Town merchants over the years, helping them promote their businesses and working through any issues that came up.